Arrapha

Arrapha was an ancient Mesopotamian city in present-day northeastern Iraq, on the site of present-day Kirkuk. It was a part of the Akkadian Empire under Sargon of Akkad, and it was occupied by the Gutians in 2150 BC, by Ur in 2090 BC, by the Assyrian Empire in 2025 BC, the Babylonians in 615 BC, the Persians in the 6th century BC, the Macedonians and the Seleucids in the 330s BC, the Parthians in the mid-2nd century BC, and the Sassanids in the mid-3rd century AD. Arrapha had been one of Assyria's last strongholds before its fall to the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and the Seleucids refounded the town under the name of Karka. During the late 3rd century AD, the Sassanids conquered Arrapha and the other Assyrian city-states, and Arrapha-Karka became known as "Kirkuk" under Muslim Arab rule after the 7th century AD.